Matthew 6:19-21 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Do we really believe these words of Jesus our Lord and God? We tend to tamp down many of Jesus’ words in our spirits, not letting them come to the surface, such as take no thought for tomorrow, love your neighbor as your love yourself, when forced to go one mile go two, love your enemies, lend money without expecting a return, fast without a show, visit the sick and the prisoner, and so on. In all of these demands on our lives, we either push them aside or pacify our responsibility to those in need with simple acts such as giving twenty dollars to a man begging on the street. This gift will probably be mentioned in our next Christian gathering. Other Christians in the group may look at us with praise for such a generous gift or they might share their concerns about giving to the deadbeats, the non-producers in our society. But Jesus is still the Lord! As believers, we should stand on a position of faith, knowing God is real, and He rewards those who follow him with an honest, dedicated heart, without reservation or rationality. As we saw in last week’s breakfast, Jesus said that we should fast without notoriety, believing the GOD WHO IS WILL REWARD US. We should fast in secret, knowing that God sees our earnestness, our sincere hearts, in our petitions to him. Do we really believe that God hears us, do we really believe that He exists, that He has a complete inventory of our lives, what we have done, thought, or said? Do we believe He has an inventory of all that we possess, our bank accounts, our closets, our garages, our attics, and the like? If He knows the number of hairs on our heads, He also knows what we possess; He knows our lives from the inside to the outside—nothing can be hidden from him. We know, without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6) In the above verses, Jesus tells us that our treasure, what we consider vital in our lives, should be stored in heaven. Everything we are should be in God’s vault, not ours. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. Of course, we cannot literally store all our physical possessions or bank accounts in heaven. Heaven is an existence that we are not privy to as of now, but heaven is an attitude of the mind: dedication to God and his purposes wholeheartedly, without reservation or tendency to live as the world lives. Is our home only a tent, our possessions light and few? Are we ready to move on quickly in this wilderness if God calls us to do so? If we are, our treasure is in heaven. Often though our lifestyles are constructed in a different way. We establish an oasis life, a life centered on our needs, not God’s needs. No need for manna every day, for we have made sure we have enough provision for every day and many to come. No need for the Spirit to hover over us during the day or to brighten our nights with his glow, for we are tuned out of his direction in our lives. We have pounded our tent pegs down deeply in the oasis of our existence. There, where our treasure is, every entertainment will be ours; every tantalizing experience in life will be ours. We will fulfill our lives with our bucket list, not God’s. We count our personal attainments, not God’s blessings. If our lives are oriented toward self, we are away from God’s direction in our lives; where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Do we in the Christian world have more of a religious spirit than a belief that God is Lord of our lives? A religious spirit says maybe it is a good thing to think that God exists; we will serve him in our constructed temple, visiting the temple once a week, maybe gather with others for a Bible study once in a while. For us these are positive activities, identifying our households as Christian, but often we do not want God invading our personal lives with demands on us, such as telling us to store our treasure in heaven. We will have a spiritual agenda to appease God: we will include Bible study, prayer, reflection on him, but we ignore his demands to give to the poor or to care for the needy or to look out for our neighbor. God can be very convenient for some of us as long as our commitment is surface deep; we will even pray for others, but we avoid the more onerous task of caring for others. Rather than alleviate some of the problems our friend in need has by action and maybe disposing some of our earthly treasure to meet his need, we can use God as an offramp, to get away from actually doing something for him. How easy it is to say, “I will pray for you,” while not picking up the cross and providing the necessary help for the hurting individual. Do we actually believe God is real, and that we should not store up for ourselves treasures on Earth where moths and vermin destroy, where thieves break in and steal? Or is Jesus just a concept, a good idea, a loving Lord who never asks anything from us, but a spiritual devotion? Is the cost too high if we really pay attention to his words? What about our personal security, our own welfare? Treasure is needed if we get sick or lose a job. If we have given all our earthly treasure to others: to the poor, the indigent, the widows, the helpless, the infirm, what happens to us if we fall into one of those categories? What if? The questions for believers are many as we experience the vicissitudes of life. Do we truly want to be spiritual without others knowing it? Do we want to store up our wealth in heaven? What if there is not a heaven? What if this world is the only life we have? But as true believers in Jesus Christ, we believe we are encased IN CHRIST, for we have died in him and now we find our lives IN CHRIST for we have been resurrected by him. The Bible says, For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3) Our lives are destined for heaven because the Holy Spirit that is resident in us will resurrect us to life ever more, for Jesus is the RESURRECTION. Because of that, we who are in him possess eternal life as children of the Most High. God will take care of us—the promise is to us and to the generations that follow us as Christians.
We are new creatures; we ought to live as new creatures, trusting in the goodness of God. He knows our bank accounts, our treasures, the clothes hanging in our closets, the stuff piled in our garages or attics. He has a precise inventory of everything we have. If He knows the hairs on our heads, He knows where all our goods and money are housed. Someday we will be reminded of the inventory we possessed as we journeyed through life. We cannot hide anything from God, even our thoughts. Where your thoughts are, where your heart is, there is your treasure. People will destroy their families by seeking after the treasure of sex, status, happiness, security, entertainment, self-gratification. WHERE YOUR HEART IS THERE IS YOUR TREASURE! What do you love; what fulfills your day? How many hours are you on a media device, looking at things, some even harmful to you, AND YOU KNOW IT; but you will protect your treasure fiercely, going after people who disagree with your treasure, your ideas, your lifestyle. Your treasure has become your life, what you desire in life, how to spend your day. The treasure you have stored up is appeasing your flesh. Dear friend, your daily thoughts and the activities that consume you are your treasures. God knows your treasures, and He knows how possessive you are of them. But all that you stored up on this earth, thinking they were so important and necessary for you to live happily will someday mean nothing to you. When you die, what you held so dear here on Earth will not matter. What will matter will be what you stored up in heaven. You will realize in your last hours on Earth that much of what you did, the hours you spent with your earthly thoughts, words and activities was a waste of time: where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. You will ask, why did I waste time with this treasure? Recently Mom’s aunt died. Her life was spent living for others. She modeled what Jesus taught, By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:35) She adopted eleven orphans, some from other lands. All of these little children were castoffs from the societies and families where they were born. But Eddie loved them, gave them a home and did the best she could for them. She also took care of seventy-seven foster children during her time and always had a household full of children. For many decades she wrote a monthly letter to many missionaries around the world; she also sent this letter to her family and friends. Every month Eddie’s letters would come with antidotes from her own life as an encouragement to others. There are many more things she did for children around the world: sending hundreds of shoes to people in other lands, shoes that she bought at discounts from Walmart. She knitted hundreds of hats and gloves for children around the world, and many more things. WHERE YOUR HEART IS THERE IS YOUR TREASURE. Her heart was in heaven, trying to please the Lord by helping people. All her years, she wanted to please God. My friend, is your heart in heaven or are you so caught up in the world’s thoughts and ideas that your heart is fixed in this world. Jesus said emphatically, categorically, for us to avoid the things of this earth and to store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. Eddie and her husband Phil stored up their treasure in heaven, may we all do likewise.
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